Antigone: Protagonist or Misinterpreted Innocence? A literal “age old” argument that has sparked intelligent conversation since the BC era is still as potent as ever in Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Antigone. Since the play’s origin, there has always been a toss-up as to who the true tragic hero, or protagonist, is. A popular misconception is that the character Antigone must be the protagonist due to her direct name being the title. Sophocles intends the play to highlight Antigone and her soon to be fatal clash with her newly crowned uncle, Creon. Hence, the basic title, Antigone. Analytically speaking, however, Creon does seem to more categorically fit the title of “Tragic Hero.” There is no doubt as to the nature of the work, that being tragedy. Along with this genre comes certain established prerequisites and Creon is the only character that satisfactorily fits them all. There are certain qualities that a character must possess in order to qualify as a tragic hero. Ideally, the subject is to be a person of high rank, so that they may have much to lose. (Most frequently a monarch or patriarch is used.) Granted, Antigone is a member of the royal bloodline. But we must not forget that she is the daughter of incest, hardly a glamorous position to start with. In Oedipus Rex, Antigone was indirectly disgraced, while Creon was socially elevated by inheriting kingship from Oedipus. Also, Creon’s being king comparatively trumps Antigone’s lesser status of orphaned princess. While this in itself objectively proves nothing, it does at a minimum make Creon the more likely choice of protagonist. Another essential component of a tragic hero is that of the tragic flaw, the one attribute that causes the inevitable downfall of the character. A case could be made for Antigone’s hamartia being stubbornness. She is called stubbornly wild in the play by both Creon: “This girl was an old hand at insolence” (1280) and by the chorus leader: “She hasn’t learned to bend before...

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...Antigone– The Characterization
Sophocles’ tragic drama, Antigone, presents to the reader a full range of characters: static and dynamic, flat and round; they are portrayed mostly through the showing technique.
In “Sophocles’ Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone,” Charles Paul Segal takes the stand that there are two protagonists in the drama (which conflicts with this reader’s interpretation):
This is not to say that there are not conceptual issues involved in the characters of Creon and Antigone. But the issues are too complex to be satisfactorily reduced to a single antithetical formulation. We must avoid seeing the protagonists as one-dimensional representatives of simple oppositions: right and wrong, reason and emotion, state and individual, or the like (62).
Werner Jaeger in “Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development” pays the dramatist the very highest compliment with regard to character development:
The ineffaceable impression which Sophocles makes on us today and his imperishable position in the literature of the world are both due to his character-drawing. If we ask which of the men and women of Greek tragedy have an independent life in the imagination apart from the stage and from the actual plot in which they appear, we must answer, ‘those created by Sophocles, above all others’ (36)....

...As the main character in the Greek classic “Antigone,” Creon undergoes recognition and a reversal of fortune. Recognition is defined when the main character changes from ignorance to awareness. Reversal of fortune is described as a turn in fortune, usually from good fortune to bad fortune. Creon is also a better fit to Aristotle’s criteria of a tragic hero because the definition of a tragic hero is someone who holds great status and has hamartia. Harmartia is defined as a major character flaw that plays a part in the downfall of the character. Also, Aristotle states that in a plot the tragic hero has to go through reversal of fortune as well as recognition. It is Creon who experiences all of these elements making him the true tragic hero and the main character in the play.
Creon is the character who holds great status in the play. He is the King of Thebes where the kingdom including guards and armies respect him to a point that they are willing to fight for him. Creon’s decrees is the highest law of the land and people are willing to lay the dead unburied and dishonored, which goes against the will of the gods. While Antigone has no status other than the fact that she has royal blood, from a fallen king. When Antigone states that she is going to bury Polyneices Ismene, Antigone’s sister, is terrified for Antigone’s life and tries to stop Antigone by telling...

...differentiating between the protagonist and the secondary characters in Greek drama, four characteristics of a traditional Greek hero should be kept in mind: undying loyalty, strong convictions, a single character flaw, and a lesson learned. In the play, Antigone, by Sophocles, two characters, Antigone and Creon, have thee of these four. The possession of the fourth quality is what sets one apart as the main character. Even though the title of the play is Antigone, the main character-the protagonist- is Creon.
Antigone may seem to be the only character to have everlasting loyalty , as she is willing to die for her brother, Polyneices, right to a proper burial; however, Creon also displays this trait. It is Creon's duty as a Greek man and as a King to protect his kingdom and put it above his enemy, regardless of his or her identity.
Saying " a foe is never a friend,not even in death" (Sophocles ) Creon decrees that Polyneices shall not be buried. He enforces this even with his own family member, displaying a loyalty of great proportions to his country.
Moral obligation and commitment play an important role in the play. Both Antigone and Creon display unbelivable fortitude when their positions on this are questioned. Creon is willing to rob his son of his bride. His power and kingship,...

...Irony in Antigone: King Creon
In the tragedy Antigone, Sophocles pens a tale about a stalwart and distrustful king, Creon, and his misuse of the power he possesses. In the play he disregards the law of the gods to fit his whims, something that the heroine of the play, Antigone, wholeheartedly disagrees with; she disobeys his order to leave her dead brother, Polynices, unburied and sentences herself to death in the process. Antigone is engaged to Creon’s son, Haemon, who does not agree with his father’s actions in regard to the burial of Antigone’s traitorous brother. The disagreement between father and son leads to Haemon’s suicide; ironically, Creon thinks it is his life that will be taken and not his son’s.
Creon and Haemon argue about Antigone’s impending fate; their disagreement on the subject prompts a threat from Haemon:
“No. Don’t ever hope for that.
She’ll not die with me just standing there.
And as for you— your eyes will never see my face again.
So let your rage charge on among your friends
Who want to stand by you in this (870-875)
Haemon declares that Antigone will not die without reaction from himself; Creon will never see Haemon again because if Antigone is killed Haemon plans to join her in death: by his own hand. Haemon then says that Creon’s rage will force Haemon’s own hand to do something...

...Relationship between Antigone and CreonAntigone is a play written by Sophocles. The genre of the play that Sophocles wrote was based on tragedy. It is one of the first plays that use tragedy. In the play a young girl named Antigone, stands up against her uncle Creon who is the king. She stands up for her rights, so that she can give a religious burial to Polynices. She was a girl with a lot of will power. This essay talks about the relationship between Antigone and Creon. This essay would contain paragraphs where there would be comparisons between Antigone and Creon’s Relationship.
The main character Antigone is portrayed as the disobedient niece of Creon but an obedient daughter of God. Her character in the play looks like a male part instead of a female part. In the play she curses herself for being a girl but not a boy. In the play it is stated “Don’t I know I am a girl? Haven’t I spent my life cursing the fact that I was a girl?” The position of women in the society was that they were slaves and pets for men. They were not supposed to stand up against whatever the men decided. But in the play Antigone stands up for her rights making her being portrayed as the male character in the play. Antigone whenever she came up with a thought she would do that in that moment. She would never think what she...

...Similarities between Creon and Antigone
In Sophocles' play Antigone, Creon was engaged in a conflict with Oedipus' daughter Antigone. Creon and Antigone did not see eye-to-eye the entire play due to extreme differences. Creon and Antigone had many similarities despite their enormous discrepancies. Having as many differences as they did, it made them uniquely similar in numerous ways. The similarities that Antigone and Creon shared were independence, loyalty toward their views, cruelty and arrogance ("The Similarities"). The connection shared by Antigone and Creon showed that as hard as Sophocles tried to make them diverse, he made them unintentionally equivalent at the same time.
What does it mean to be independent? According to Webster's New World Dictionary, it means "to be free from the influence or control of others" ("Independent"). Antigone and Creon both showed that they would not be influenced or controlled by anyone, regardless of the situation. Antigone showed her independence by refusing to obey Creon's law. His law stated that traitors could not have a proper burial in Thebes, but be left for the birds and dogs to devour. Creon also stated that if anyone was caught giving the body a proper burial then that person would be...

...In the play, Antigone, written by Sophocles, the tragic hero presented is Creon, the king of Thebes. Creon’s obstinate personality led him to avoid listening to anyone else’s reasoning. Creon has used bad judgment while he was ruling over Thebes. However, Creon went to great lengths to correct his mistakes. Creon’s personality, wrong conduct, and effort to reverse his mistakes make him a tragic hero.
Creon’s stubborn, stern, and tyrannizing personality is a reason why he is a tragic hero. Creon only tolerated his own opinion because he thinks that he is experienced. Creon did not believe that he should take the advice of his son, Haemon, which was that alone, he cannot be right. Creon had defended his edict that Polyneices should not be buried and did not listen to the justifications of Antigone and Haemon. Although Creon was strict, not all of his actions were wrong.
Another quality of Creon that makes him a tragic hero is that he had bad judgment. Creon refused to have Polyneices buried because he felt that Polyneices was going to sell his people into slavery. Creon also punished Antigone for her “holy crime,” which was when she went against Creon’s edict for a virtuous reason. Because of Antigone’s crime, another one of Creon’s transgressions was accusing her sister, Ismene, equally for...

...10/17/14
Tragic Hero; Antigone or Creon
In the Greek tragedy Antigone, the characters Antigone and Creon can both be thought of as the tragic hero of the play. Though Antigone does show some of these characteristics of a tragic hero, Creon demonstrates the attributes more clearly and concisely. Creon is the King of Thebes, as well as the uncle of Antigone.Creon took the throne after a tragic quarrel between his two nephews, Eteocles and Polyneices. Despite his harsh governing and his crude ideals, he is not good or bad. Creon is the tragic hero of the play Antigone, because of his superiority in his society, his nobility, and his tragic flaw, self-pride.
Creon was known as the antagonist King in Antigone. A sample of Creon’s antagonist actions is quoted: “…Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or say the least prayer for him; he shall lie on the plain, unburied; and the birds and the scavenging dogs can do with him whatever they like.” (Sophocles 1. 43-46) Though he is known for negative things, he is still perceived and still superior to every Theban. Antigone was known in the society as the princess; but, she did not show herself as a grand and known person. Creon is proud of his position in society and is prideful of...